Colossus Escape Review

Colossus Escape is at its heart a very standard runner. The player strides along, jumping over pits, killing enemies and avoiding other hazards.

The basic run and jump gameplay is mixed up with Quick time events where the player must swipe a pattern on the screen quickly or die. Unlike most runners there is a hit points system in colossus escape and it’s possible to take a few hits without dying instantly. This is very uncommon in the endless runner genre.

Colossus Escape is a free game and thus there is a kind of energy system at work. After each game over, a credit must be used to start a new game. Collecting gems during gameplay adds extra credits but this is a very slow process, as a lot of gems are required. Extra credits can be bought and they regenerate over time. Unlike most runners there is no in game shop or item equipping, which make the game seem a bit too simple when compared to more interesting runners, such as Jetpack Joyride and such.

Colossus Escape has quite a few levels and there are the vestiges of a story. This gives the game a feeling of progression, even if your character cannot be upgraded. Besides the story mode, there is an infinite mode, where the player simply plays to get as far as possible before they die.

Colossus Escape’s visuals really drive home its rough, hellish feel. Characters are comprised of various rough shapes and seemingly random textures giving them a thrown together look that really suits the game well. The highly stylized graphics manage to pull this unique look off without sacrificing usability.

The sound likewise works very well, with appropriately heroic music pulsing in the background as enemies get slashed and the sound effects get the job done.

The main problem with Colossus Escape is that a few poor design choices get in the way of playing the game.

For example, the titular colossus in the game’s background routinely makes it very difficult to see where you character is and is highly distracting. It is tough to focus on oncoming platforms and small enemies when there’s a large, orange monster constantly moving in the background. It’s a shame as the game looks quite nice and if the colossus moved around less this would likely not be much of a problem.

The collision detection is a problem as well. The player’s sword seems to “exist” on a vertical plane, so if an enemy is jumped over, a mid-air sword slash will still somehow hit them.

Lastly, there is an ad constantly displayed in game. While it is a small ad, it is animated which can be very distracting to some players. This is often a necessary evil in free games however.

Colossus Escape isn’t a bad game, but it doesn’t stand out from the glut of endless runners on Android either. Worth a look for fans of the genre.